I have just finished building a trailer for my H16, but am wondering what to use for a "Sail Tube" to store the sails in while trailering. I have seen some use a wooden box, but that wouldn't be water tight when launching, and I don't want to put sails in a wet box. Any ideas, anyone?

Hobie offers a very nice sailbox called the "toy box" You can also use a piece of PVC pipe about 10"-12". You can get send caps and glue them on one end and a piece of plywood can be cut out for the other and hinged on. You can take a plywood box and wrap it in fiberglass and it would be water proof. Easiest thing is to order one from Hobie and wala you done!

I've been looking into building my own sail tube as well - I read throug hthe beachcats article but when I call around looking for large diameter PVC (or something comparable) I am told that the cost is roughly $200+ for the pipe and almost as much for end caps.

When making your own stuff instead of buying it keep in mind the amount of time and effort that is spent in design and construction. One other thing is the resale value, homemade stuff never really adds to much when pricing for resale. The PVC tube is way to much Money, check around to see if they have any busted pipe that can be glued together, also check construction sites they often throw away left over pieces.

You can buy corrigated "Hancor" Pipe about 14" dia. It's much lighter than PVC and Much cheaper. You can buy end caps for it and with a few hasps you can gain access to either end and lock it up also. It can be banded to the trailer beams. It's not water tight if you submerge it but it will keep your contents dry in the pouring rain and on a wet road trip as well. Just don't back it in so far. Hobies are light just push it off and winch it up when your done. Total cost less than $100 and LOTS of space for boom, sails, jackets, hiking stick, throwables, and bags of boots and misc.
Good luck,
Ken McG

I built a sail tube for my Getaway's trailer using 12" PVC pipe and end caps. The pipe and caps were about $100 at an HVAC shop (Locke Supply in OK), and tools and hardware less than $50 (including the new pop-riveter I bought when mine broke). If you want 14" PVC it's significantly more pricey, but 12" has been adequate for my mainsail bag, rudders, tiller bar, hiking sticks, and two paddles. The pipe comes in a 10' length, but about 1' of the flared end must be cut off to use an end cap there. I believe the seal would be watertight if you wanted it to be, but I drilled ventilation holes in the tube to allow wet gear to dry. Also, I found I needed to drill more holes because the entire trailer wanted to float--in other words, I don't recommend a tightly sealed tube. As Ken said, hasps work great; both for locking and as hinges. Check out my web page for pix of the finished product.